


Punishment

by themanonthecouch



Category: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (Video Game)
Genre: Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 07:39:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17039576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themanonthecouch/pseuds/themanonthecouch
Summary: I think pgirl once wrote a similar oneshot, but don't quote me on this.I was in a bad mood so who else to take it out on than dear Mercurio?





	Punishment

When LaCroix called him in his penthouse Mercurio knew that he had fucked up. The French bastard hasn’t shown his face to give him blood for over a year now. But the guy who usually handed it to him just silently had pointed to the elevator and now he was slowly walking with a rapidly beating heart to his boss - no, master! - who waited for him with his usual stone cold face. 

He tried to appear casual but looking at LaCroix was hard. The old mixture of fear, disapproval, admiration and love were fighting heavily in his chest. In the end, the love and the lust for blood would always win.   
“Master?”, he asked unsure when he finally arrived at the desk. Like hypnotized he was staring in LaCroix’s steel blue eyes.   
“Do you know why I called for you, Mercurio?”, his master asked in a laconic voice.   
Mercurio ducked his head slightly and blinked. He knew why he was here, but it was hard to speak out. It made it more real and felt like admitting guilt.   
“Because ...” His mouth was dry. “Because of the ghoul from the Sabbath house?”   
“YOU GAVE HER TO ISAAC!” LaCroix started to scream and Mercurio’s heart almost stood still. “TO MY ENEMEY!”   
“She was in pain!”, Mercurio almost whimpered. He no longer stood upright. “She needed blood.”   
“And you brought her to the ANARCHS.” 

It was true, Mercurio hadn’t even asked a Camarilla vampire for blood. In truth, Isaac was the only vampire he knew who didn’t look down on him and LaCroix…   
He didn’t want to share his blood. He knew that it was stupid and that LaCroix had lots of other ghouls. But the prospect of making another rival by giving her his master’s blood… Mercurio just couldn’t stand the thought of it.   
But he also didn’t want to see her suffer and he had been ready to endure the consequences. At least he had thought he could.   
“Master, I’m sorry!”   
“She now carried all the information to them!”   
“I interviewed her. I wrote everything down.” He stood there, cringed over, holding the journal in both hands, like an offering. LaCroix snapped it out of his hands and threw it on the table without dignifying it one look. He nodded to the Sheriff, who had watched the scene from his place behind the prince and now took a step towards him.   
Mercurio shrieked and reached for his gun. “DON’T”, LaCroix said demanding and Mercurio let his hand sink automatically. “You will face your punishment without resistance.”   
With shaking knees he waited for the Sheriff to come closer. Slowly he took a step back.   
“Stay.” LaCroix commanded and sat down on his chair, his fingers folded in front of his chest.   
Mercurio petrified in the middle of his movement. His heart beat rang in his head and he took sharp irregular breaths. Everything in him screamed to run away when the huge man arrived but he was unable to move.   
Like a deer in headlights he waited for the punch. The Sheriff took his time taking a swing and hit him with full force in the face.   
Mercurio immediately broke down. At first it didn’t hurt, but then the pain set in. His mouth filled with the familiar taste of blood and he felt on of his teeth getting loose. Hastily he swallowed the blood, so the vampires couldn’t smell it. His mind raced. Would the Sheriff kill him? What did LaCroix want. But he spoke about facing the punishment. If he wanted to kill him, it would have already happened. The Sheriff was not as cruel.   
Before he could get up again a second punch hit him, just as strong as the last one. He wheezed, now completely on the ground, orientation-less for a moment.   
The kick surprised him. The heavy boots hit his chest and the loss of air let Mercurio faint for a second. The room blurred to a gold-yellow mess and he almost fell into a blissful unconsciousness. He heard LaCroix’s euphonious voice from afar.   
“Wait a second.”   
Mercurio blinked just long enough to see another boot coming and this time it was the face again. It felt crushed and the pain almost blinded him. He could smell blood.   
“Please,” he begged and tried to turn on his front again to get, when another kick pushed him on the back. There he lay like a beetle helplessly looking at LaCroix. “Please, master.”   
It was enough, the pain was enough and he was scared out of his mind. Yes, the Sheriff might not want to kill him, but he could do it on accident. His head hurt like hell and he already had problems moving.   
There was a pause, Mercurio didn’t see it, but he was sure LaCroix gestured something to the Sheriff, as usual. He took the opportunity and rolled around on his knees.   
A sharp pain hit his back. Mercurio winced again, but kept his balance. The Sheriff must whip him with something thinner. Tears started streaming down his face and mixed with the blood from his nose and mouth. He clenched the teeth as well as he could with the broken tooth and hit his head under his arms. The lashes went quicker and Mercurio twitched under every one, but he didn’t dare make a noise. He cried silently towards the floor. He felt the need to throw up and fought it back with all his might. 

“Stop, please”, LaCroix said suddenly and with a warm voice. Confused Mercurio stayed were he was on the floor and waited. The lashes had stopped, but he was too afraid to get up.   
“Mercurio.” LaCroix spoke again. “Come here.”   
Hopefully he got up on his knees and moved towards the Prince, who had gotten out of his seat. Tears were still blurring his sight, but he could see his master was not angry anymore and that was all that counted.   
As he tried to reach for his hands, LaCroix pushed them aside.   
“You will not get blood today, Mercurio.” He spoke the condemning words almost gently.   
Mercurio cried. “No, I need it, I am hurt, I need it, it is so long.”   
But LaCroix shook his head. “You may come back in a week. Go now.” With these words he turned away and set down at his desk. Mercurio stared at him aghast. This was worse than the beating, he had endured this before in his life. But no blood means he could not heal, he would not be strong and he could age.  
“Master, no, I.” A look from LaCroix let him fall silent. He cringed back.   
The Sheriff grabbed him by his collar and heaved him to his feet, not without giving him a push to the door.   
Humiliated Mercurio stumbled forward. He wanted to escape the Sheriff, but still be around his Prince.   
“Good Night, master”, he whispered and walked out of the door. 

He stood in the floor for a moment, lost, in pain and with weak knees. He tried to wipe his tears and the blood with a crumbled up handkerchief and took a hushed look around.   
Nobody saw him, good.   
It was probably a bad idea to stand bleeding in a tower full of vampire, so he stumbled to the elevator as fast as he could. When he finally was in it, he broke down. The tears started rolling freely and he breathed heavily.  
How dared LaCroix treat him like this! Angrily he punched the wall of the elevator and left a small dent. All he did was save this girl, this was nothing to beat him up for!  
But he knew that this was wrong. He gave her to his rival and his master wasn’t the only one who would have punished such a transgression. Quite the opposite, in New York he would have been killed for this.   
Compared to his past LaCroix treated him almost gentle … or like a property.   
He leaned against the wall, sobbing uncontrollably.   
Maybe he was lucky having such a soft master. If only that brutal Sheriff wasn’t around. He longed so much for LaCroix’s hand, his wrist, his blood. If they only could be something different than master and ghoul. Slowly the tears stopped and Mercurio was breathing more gently. Next week. Next week he would get blood again, he would make sure of this. His master would be proud. 

The elevator had reached the first floor and again Mercurio had to hide his tears. He hoped that the stupid fat security guard wouldn’t see that he had cried. He always gave Mercurio a skewed look when he came in and he didn’t like him either. Idiot wanna-be cop.   
He limped past his desk as fast as he could. “Hey, what happened to you?”, he heard Chunk ask, but Mercurio ignored him and only stopped when he was outside.   
The fresh air made him feel a little bit better. His head hurt like crazy and the pain from the back made him walk hunched over to his car. He breathed in deeply. Lungs felt normal. Everything was alright. No, everything would be alright once he got his blood.   
Just the thought of it made him lick his lips, smearing new blood from his mouth all over them. He would try to get some from his sources, but LaCroix would be weary when he appeared next week all healed up.   
His sources. He couldn’t do business looking like this, all beat up and with a missing tooth. This would completely destroy his reputation of being untouchable.   
He fell into his cars, the pain from the back hit again and let him sight loudly. He threw a glance into the rear-view mirror. A completely red and swollen face looked back at him, smeared with blood and glittering with tears.   
Like when his father beat him up.   
Forcefully Mercurio pushed the thought away. LaCroix wasn’t his father, he was his boss and he had made a mistake. It was normal to be punished for this, and everything would go away in a week. It was normal. He was lucky.   
Mercurio pulled out of his parking spot and drove back to Santa Monica.


End file.
